Russian tycoon Alisher Usmanov donates $8.8 million Olympic manifesto to museum

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov on Monday was reportedly unveiled as the mysterious bidder who bought the original 1892 Olympic manifesto for a record $ 8.8. million. The revelation was made after he donated it to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. The manifesto is a 14-page document which was originally penned by the Olympic Committee founder Pierre de Coubertin. 

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Bidding started at $1 Million

The oligarch, who is a constant advocate for the resurrection of ancient Greek games had bought the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever to be sold at auction to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne at an auction held in December. His identity was kept under wraps till the end of the bidding that stretched to 12 minutes with three international buyers being the key players, international media reported. Auctioneer Sotheby’s revealed that the bidding started with $1 million but extended to $8.8 million. After receiving the donation, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach at a ceremony in the headquarters of IOC announced that they were witnessing history today.

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The 2020 Summer Olympics officially known as the Games of the XXXII Olympiad or the Recovery Olympics is an upcoming international multi-sport event that is scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020 in Tokyo, Japan, with preliminary events in some sports beginning on 22 July.

Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 7 September 2013. This will be the second time that Japan and specifically Tokyo has hosted the Summer Olympic Games, the first being in 1964, making it the first city in Asia to host the Summer Games twice. Overall, these will be the fourth Olympic Games to be held in Japan, which also hosted the Winter Olympics in 1972 and 1998. The 2020 Games will be the second of three consecutive Olympics to be held in East Asia, the first being the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang County, South Korea, and the next being the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.